


It's Where My Demons Hide

by darkinside22



Series: TIme To Begin [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: AU, Abandonment, Alternate Universe - College/University, Anal Sex, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Lirry - Freeform, M/M, Oral Sex, Party Boys, Past Drug Use, Past Underage Sex, Plot With Porn, Recreational Drug Use, Substance Abuse, Underage Substance Use, Zilo - Freeform, lilo, one direction - Freeform, uni - Freeform, zarry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-20
Updated: 2013-12-20
Packaged: 2018-01-05 07:39:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1091322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkinside22/pseuds/darkinside22
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was a known fact that if you attended Pine Grove University, you knew Louis Tomlinson.</p><p>It didn’t matter if you were a freshman, stepping onto the lively campus for the first time and being overwhelmed with its beauty and history; It didn’t matter if you were a returning sophomore or junior who’d already found your place in the thriving community of students and teachers and faculty; It didn’t matter if you were a senior, coming back for the last time, the ending of your education bittersweet because the thought of finally being finished with your degree was incredibly satisfying, yet the mere mention of leaving this place forever was heartbreaking. No matter where you were in your experience, you knew Louis Tomlinson.</p><p>At least, that’s what he’d heard.</p><p>Or</p><p>Louis and Zayn are best friends who go to college together, and it's about to be a mess of angst and sex and fluff and love and tears</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Where My Demons Hide

It was a known fact that if you attended Pine Grove University, you knew Louis Tomlinson.

It didn’t matter if you were a freshman, stepping onto the lively campus for the first time and being overwhelmed with its beauty and history; It didn’t matter if you were a returning sophomore or junior who’d already found your place in the thriving community of students and teachers and faculty; It didn’t matter if you were a senior, coming back for the last time, the ending of your education bittersweet because the thought of finally being finished with your degree was incredibly satisfying, yet the mere mention of leaving this place forever was heartbreaking. No matter where you were in your experience, you knew Louis Tomlinson.

At least, that’s what he’d heard.

Louis sighed and slipped on his keds, running a hand through his windswept fringe when he’d tied them up. He stood and stared in the mirror, trying to figure out what people saw in him, why people laughed at his jokes, why so many girls threw themselves at him. He didn’t understand the hype. He was too short, his voice too squeaky, his limbs too fragile. His hand reached up of its own accord and ran its fingers down his face, thinking maybe if he scratched a little through his skin, there’d be another person under there; Someone more beautiful, someone funnier, someone worth caring about. His nails dug in slightly and he could feel the marks in his skin----

The door to the bedroom blew open and a boy came tumbling into the room, a mess of limbs and books flying in every direction and Louis jumped, his body twisting away from the mirror as his hand flew up to his chest to hold his heart. 

“Zayn, bloody fucking hell, can you ever enter a room like a normal bloke?!”

“Don’t fuck with me, Tomlinson, I’m in a rage.”

“I can see that.”

Zayn stormed around the dorm room, picking things up and dropping them, moving pillows from both of their beds and throwing them on the floor, cursing under his breath as he moved. Louis just sighed, like he usually did at his best friend’s antics, moving over to sit on his bed, his knees curling up to rest under his chin as the other dark-haired boy fluttered around in circles, getting angrier by the second. 

“Zayn, Christ, just tell me what you’re doing so I can at least help.”

The other boy stopped for a second, looking over at Louis, his face still contorted with anger and frustration.

“Pemble. He fucking failed me. He failed me on my exam.”

“What?!”

“Yeah,” Zayn replied, continuing to search through the room, starting in on the desk, shuffling papers around, searching through drawers and between the pages of Louis’ Shakespeare plays littered everywhere. “He kept me after class and told me my final essay had nothing to do with the culture of the topic we’d been studying and he bloody failed me.”

“Wait, Pemble? He’s the World Religions teacher, right? I thought his final essay was about---”

“Describe your reasons for your particular beliefs and give examples how it would affect our world if it was the only religion, yeah.” Zayn stopped searching and glanced at Lous with a knowing look before returning to his quest. The gears began to grind in Louis brain and when he finally put the pieces together, he couldn’t believe it.

“But, you’re Muslim?” He’d meant for it to sound like a statement, but he could just couldn’t get himself to fathom that he was right. He couldn’t be right. Zayn finally found what he was looking for in Louis’ underwear drawer in the dresser, and he barely had his body fully down next to Louis’ on his bed before he was pulling the weed out of his pocket and packing the bowl with such ferocity that Louis was afraid he was going to break it. Zayn’s silence said it all.

“Are you telling me he failed you because--because--”

“Because I’m Muslim, yeah. Yup. He didn’t come right out and say it, of course, but it was obvious. Fucking prick.”

He finished packing the bowl and fished the black lighter out of his leather jacket, taking a huge rip and keeping it in his lungs as long as possible before letting it out. The smoke billowed between them, full of unspoken words and feelings and emotions that Louis knew Zayn wouldn’t offer up. They were best friends, yeah, and they had been forever, but Zayn didn’t talk about stuff. He didn’t share. It just wasn’t like him. Louis, however, was all emotions and feelings. Like now.

“No, fuck this. Fuck this, Zayn, I’m not letting him get away with it.” Louis began to stand up, immediately outraged. Zayn had been teased for as long as they could remember for his religion, and Louis had always been there to defend him, but once they’d gotten to Pine Grove, everyone was so accepting. Everyone loved Zayn. Zayn and Louis, the two best mates to ever set foot on this campus. No one seemed to give two shits that Zayn had a different religion, because he was a great person. Until now, and Louis wasn’t going to stand for it. 

“Don’t, Lou. It’s not worth it,” Zayn slumped back until his head bumped the wall, his face defeated, his shoulders slumped. If he hadn’t already smoked through half the bowl, he might’ve put up more of a fight, but then again, maybe he wouldn’t have, because once Louis set his mind on something, he didn’t stop until he got it. Louis just looked at Zayn, his expression maddeningly calm.

“Too late. He shouldnt’ve fucked with my best friend.” And with that, Louis was grabbing his keys and phone, sliding them both into his pocket and slamming the door behind him, ignoring the waves and offers for high fives from the other guys in the dorm, because it didn’t matter that everyone knew him; No one knew him better than Zayn and Zayn needed him right now, whether or not he’d admit it.


End file.
